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A series of avalanches were sparked by heavy snowfall in Afghanistan and Pakistan, killing at least 107 people, officials say.

"More than 65 others have been injured and more than 150 homes destroyed by the avalanches," said Omer Mohammadi, spokesman for the Afghan state minister for disaster management and humanitarian affairs.

According to Reuters, dozens more were missing after an avalanche buried a village in eastern Afghanistan, provincial governor Hafiz Abdul Qayum said.

An avalanche in neighboring Pakistan killed at least 14 people and buried five homes, Nizamud Shah, a local official in the northern town of Chitral told the Associated Press. He added that several other people are missing.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will coordinate rescue efforts and arrange medical assistance, food and shelter for those affected.

Rescue efforts were immediately launched by District Administration, Frontier Corps and other groups.

A mass of snow, ice and rocks plummeted upon five houses in Pakistan's Sher Shal village in the district of Chitral on Sunday, killing 14 people. (Ajab Khan/Instagram)

The local community is recovering bodies and rendering first aid to those injured. NDMA is also coordinating helicopter relief due to inaccessible roads.

"It looks like most of the snow is over with and through the end of the week it should remain mostly dry with temperatures slowly rising up," AccuWeather Meteorologist Alan Reppert said. "By next weekend, there is a threat for some more snow to come in."

NDMA is continuously monitoring the situation.

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Avalanches kill dozens in Afghanistan and Pakistan - AccuWeather.com

1. Summary of needs from the HNO to be addressed by the cluster (550 words):

Afghanistan is an arid and semi-arid country. Most of the problems that affect food production are related to weather conditions: drought/desertification, heat waves, strong wind, floods, harsh winter, poor security situation, lack of services in rural areas and access to markets. Heavy fighting and raising fright caused by insecurity and pressure displaced thousands of people all over Afghanistan in 2016. It is expected that in 2017 more than half million people will need support as they leave their homes towns to escape form the violence (IDPs).

Among the world's most stubborn refugee crises which have been forgotten frequently, is the depressed fortune of millions of Afghan exiles. This is the world longest running refugee crisis, which has been begun in 1979 upon the Russians invasion. After about thirty years there are still more than 1.6 million registered and 1 million unregistered Afghan refugees living in Pakistan alone. In addition, more than 0.9 million Afghans still live in Iran as well. After Syria, the largest groups of asylum seekers struggling to reach Europe with smugglers support in 2016 are Afghans. 2016 remained very challenging for Afghan refugees in Pakistan because of political problems and border issues at Torkhum. Since January 2016, more than 614,225 undocumented returnees (244,125) and registered refugees (370,102) have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan. Of these, 93% (571,747) have returned since July. Additionally, on average almost 200,000 people are affected by localized floods across the country.

Food insecurity in Afghanistan is on the rise, with almost 6% (1.6 million) of Afghans severely food insecure and another 34% (9.7 million) moderately food insecure at the national level. In 2016 the crop harvest remained below the 2015 and 5-year average production rate with a total deficit of almost 1.2 million metric tons. Continued conflict, exposure to natural hazards and economic slowdown are affecting everyone particularly the vulnerable. Labor migration, conflictinduced displacement, and the sudden increase of returnees from Pakistan is taking place against a backdrop of the continued high level of conflict-induced displacement; these, in turn, are increasing the rates of and burden on the urban and rural poor population and are increasing pressure on recessed labor markets, resulting in reduced income, price hikes, asset depletion and depressed wages. Natural disasters and conflict-induced migrations further deteriorate income and production, increasing vulnerability both at household and community levels. In 2016 farmers were also affected by pest attack locust infestation and wheat rust particularly in Ghor and Bamyan provinces along with localized floods and dry spells, damaging large swaths of crops and severely impacting on food stocks and income.

The recent Seasonal Food Security Assessment (SFSA) found that market prices for basic commodities in areas affected by increased returns have increased whereas labor wage rates have gone down significantly. The initial rapid assessment of returnees indicated that families had less than a weeks worth of food stocks. As a result, new conflict IDPs, returnees, host communities and refugees remain in need of critical humanitarian assistance; based on preliminary findings, food, livelihood support, shelter, and protection are identified as major humanitarian needs.

The majority of the rural population depends on agriculture, livestock and daily wage labor and is extremely vulnerable to shocks and natural disasters. The poorest are the worst hit by conflict, natural disasters such as floods, localized dry spells, pest attacks and the economic slowdown, and are affected by the decreased availability of unskilled work which is pushing wage rates down. The inevitable resorting to negative coping strategies, such as the withdrawal of children from school, distress sales of livestock or even the sale of land, directly affects their immediate and future food security

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FSAC Response Plan (SRP) Afghanistan 2017 - ReliefWeb

On September 6th opened the new pediatric ward of Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar. A rehabilitated structure standing proudly in the hospital compound, among the trees that provide a welcoming shade from what has been a blistering hot summer. As the last drop of fresh paint dried up, young patients were wheeled in from the old ward into the new one.

The old pediatric ward was located in the main structure of the hospital compound. There were 93 beds spread across the second floor of the building. Most of these beds had to be shared between at least two patients. The new pediatric ward is now a building on its own, with 157 beds spread across three floors. The increased space now allows to have proper isolation areas for children with highly infective diseases such as measles, tuberculosis or meningitis. There is also a day care unit for those suffering from Thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder - very frequent in Southern Afghanistan - that requires frequent and regular blood transfusions. But the pride of the new ward is the 30 bed Neonatal unit which including 11 incubators, 6 warmer cots and new modern equipment that provide quality assistance for the babies, especially the premature, and at same time is a space for mothers, promoting breastfeeding and healthy maternal habits.

This is a cause for celebration. The long awaited rehabilitation of what was once a nursing school, gave way to a larger facility whose sole purpose is to provide children with the free medical care they so desperately need. With it came a considerable effort to increase of staff and more equipment.

Yet there was no time to celebrate. Within the first month, the new and larger ward was already full and new patients kept coming in from all provinces in the Southern Region. "Receiving new patients and having the ability to help them is the best part of the job" says Shagofa, a female pediatric nurse working in the neonatal unit. "We are very happy with the new ward, but we are already looking forward to having more equipment and facilities as we are already over capacity."

While in the end there has been no time to celebrate the opening of the new pediatric ward at Mirwais Hospital, the successful treatment of each and every child is a celebration in itself, just as much for the families as for the pediatric staff such as Shagofa.

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Afghanistan news

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Afghanistan: New children's ward at Mirwais Hospital already over capacity - ICRC (press release)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) An Afghan policeman turned his rifle on his colleagues in a northern province, killing eight, while a gunman in the country's east fatally shot a cleric and his wife, officials said on Friday.

The policemen were killed while they were sleeping in an outpost in the district of Almar in northern Faryab province, according to the provincial police spokesman, Abdul Karim Yuresh.

The attack happened on Thursday night and according to the spokesman, a policeman who was on duty opened fire and killed his colleagues, then collected all their firearms and fled the scene presumably to join the Taliban.

The Taliban made no official statement or claim about the attack but Afghanistan has seen several such incidents over the past years. There has been a growing number of cases in which Afghan troops or policemen or Taliban militants dressed in Afghan uniforms have turning their guns on their colleagues or U.S.-led coalition partners.

Also on Thursday night, in the country's eastern Paktika province, a gunman killed a cleric and his wife, said Mohammad Alias Wahdat, the provincial governor.

Wahdat said the gunman entered the cleric's home in the Yusof Khail district and shot the cleric and his wife. Two of their children who were in the house survived.

Police said it was not clear who was behind the attack and no one immediately claimed responsibility for the killings.

In other violence, Gul Agha Roohani, the chief of police in eastern Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan, said Islamic State group militants stormed the security posts in the district of Kot early on Friday, killing at least one police officer.

Afghan security forces responded and killed 12 militants, he said.

Afghanistan has been facing major political and security challenges since the withdrawal of international combat troops at the end of 2014, leaving a smaller contingent of troops behind to focus on training and counterterrorism.

Also, President Ashraf Ghani has been dealing with a stepped-up insurgency by the Taliban seeking to topple the government as well as an affiliate of the Islamic State group, which emerged two years ago and has expanded its footprint, especially in the country's east and in Nangarhar province.

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Attacks in Afghanistan kill 9 policemen, cleric and his wife - Colorado Springs Gazette

Afghanistan news February 3, 2017

Phil Simmons was part of West Indies' set-up when they won the 2016 World T20 WICB Media Photo/Philip Spooner

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has roped in former West Indies coach Phil Simmons as consultant for the next three series, against Zimbabwe, Ireland and West Indies. According to the ACB, he will assist head coach Lalchand Rajput on technical issues.

Afghanistan's tour of Zimbabwe starts on February 16 in Harare and includes five ODIs, before they host Ireland in Greater Noida, India, in March. Afghanistan are scheduled to visit the Caribbean in June.

"He will be working with the team as a consulting coach," ACB chief executive officer Shafiq Stanikzai told ESPNcricinfo. "His expertise will greatly favour us, as he has coached all three teams we are playing against. His appointment is a valuable step in our players' road to development."

Simmons, 53, was removed last September by the WICB, just six months after coaching West Indies to the World T20 title, due to "differences in culture and strategic approach". He had a successful stint with Ireland before that; in his eight years in charge of the team, they won 11 trophies and qualified for every major ICC event. In the mid-2000s, he had worked with Zimbabwe. An allrounder, Simmons had played 26 Tests and 143 ODIs for West Indies between 1987 and 1999.

After he was relieved of the West Indies coaching job, Simmons was appointed head coach of St Kitts & Nevis Patriots for the 2017 edition of the Caribbean Premier League. He was recently in the UAE for the duration of the Desert T20 Challenge, which Afghanistan won after defeating Ireland by 10 wickets in the final. It is understood that Simmons was attending the tournament on behalf of the ICC Development Programme, offering his services as a coaching consultant to each of the eight Associate teams present.

Umar Farooq is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent

ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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Afghanistan appoint Simmons as consultant - ESPNcricinfo.com